Is Prince Andrew and sacrificial Prince?

Last month the news was abuzz with the story that the BBC had shelved a controversial program regarding the amount of spin that was employed in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death in order to improve the public support for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles (as she was at the time). Dubbed “Operation Mrs PB”, I kid you not, it was intended to make her more acceptable to the public at large.

The fact that this should have been the case isn’t a surprise to anybody. After all it’s common knowledge that the handling of the whole Diana death and it’s aftermath was a complete public relations disaster for the Royal Family. Never before has the disconnect between public opinion and the actions of the monarchy been more apparent.

What was the big shock, was the amount of pressure that Prince Charles was employing against the BBC in order to shut down the story, all at tax payer expense, via a bunch of rather litigious legal advisers. And given the lack of coverage in the press over the last few weeks, perhaps even to the point of a super injunction.

Wheel in the sacrificial Prince

It is difficult (if not impossible) to feel sorry for Prince Andrew (I couldn’t, to be clear). I could post story after story about his exploits over the last few years. From loosing his cushy job as Trade Envoy to all those bills he’s happy to pay out for “super spending” ex wife Sarah Ferguson (which ultimately the tax payer is funding), to the scandal that convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein paid off her mortgage (following a deal with Andrew) to this story that pretty much buried him in the public eye.

But now he’s been rolled out as sacrificial “Royal”, it would appear, in order to divert attention away from older brother (and arguably bigger douchebag) Charles. It seems that Charley boy is “furious” about the whole mess and the latest “spin” attempt is that he’s angry that it’s an argument between two of his aids. So, presumably that’s why he’s employed lawyers and set Clarence House on the BBC.

It’s handy having a prat as a brother. So when it came to rolling out the necessary diversion Andrew was already at hand. The pronouncement of the story (or rather it’s propagation) could not have come at a better time for Charles, who is always careful to make sure he’s distanced in public opinion from his brother. The fact they both had affairs, manipulated the press, lied… yeah. Lets stop there.

But am I the only person who thinks it’s ever so convenient that the Royal Prince story has managed to subvert into another Royal Prince story?